As President Wineglitz India – The Wine Club, Mukul Manku put together this wonderful wine dinner for his Club members at the upscale San Gimignano Restaurant in the historic Hotel Imperial New Delhi. In this post Mukul talks about his experience.
“We got a full house and the Hotel Imperial booked the entire San Gimignano Restaurant for us. The event which was attended by prominent people from India and abroad, witnessed an exceptional bonhomie and camaraderie” says Mukul Manku.
All the wines were excellent, each with a story to tell and were complimented perfectly by the wonderful cuisine curated by the expat chef – Michael Andreas Gremer and his team.
The details of wines are given in succeeding paragraphs.
An Italian Sparkling Wine from Treviso Province ?
Yes, I’m talking about the Prosecco served during the starter course organised Alfresco at the patio, where the guests relished it with some sumptuous snacks – the effervescent – Casa Bottega Prosecco DOC Brut.
As the name suggests this sparkling wine made by the Casa Bottega winery, comes from the Prosecco DOC wine region located in the Treviso province of Veneto region in North East Italy.
This wine region has the Dolomite mountains towards its North and the Adriatic Sea on to its South. It enjoys a mild climate with a good rainfall and adequate sunshine and the soil here is a mix of Limestone, Clay and Volcanic ash. All these geographical and geological factors combined create conditions which lend themselves to the production of the unique and famous Prosecco wines, one of which we savoured in the First Course.
Everyone relished the light and refreshing flavours of this Italian sparkling wine with the starter snacks.
A Wine made from a Centuries Old Tradition?
Yes that right, it’s the Fattori Runcaris Soave Classico – the second wine that evening.
This wine which comes from the Fattori wine house, is a Soave wine made from 100% Garganega grapes and forms part of the Runcaris line of wines by the winery.
This wines come from the Soave Classico Wine Region which is located around the town of Soave, some 30 km east of the historic city of Verona in North East Italy.
When we talk about Soave Classico, it is a smaller part of the wider Soave wine region. It’s like the proverbial heart of Soave, consisting vineyards known to produce the best quality Soave wines. Many of these vineyards are located on the steep hillside slopes where terraced viticulture is practiced. The wine region has limestone soil in its western part and volcanic soil on its eastern side, both of which add richness to the wines.
A peculiar aspect of Soave Classico is that the vignerons here still practice the centuries of tradition of the Pergola Vine Training system. Also known as the Pergola Veronese (after the city of Verona), this involves training of vines upwards along wooden posts. Once the grapevines reach the top of these posts, the shoots and leaves fan out to form a leafy canopy.
This leafy roof protects the grapes which hang underneath, from direct sunlight and also provide a good air circulation. These conditions result in a slower ripening thereby allowing adequate time for the grapes to reach their full phenolic development, giving wonderful wines, one of which we got to savour that day.
During the evening, I highlighted the fact that the freshness of this wine in our glasses should be attributed to the centuries old tradition and wisdom (of Pergola System) still being practiced on the Soave Classico vineyards.
An Italian DOC Wine which is akin to a Super Tuscan
The third wine in the wine dinner was the Collemasari Montecucco Rosso Riserva. Produced by the Collemasari winery, this organis red wine and made from the grapes grown in the Montecucco DOC wine region. This DOC region is located in the province of Grosetto which is some 60 km South West of the city of Sienna in Italy.
Montecucco DOC is a part of the larger Maremma region which is bound by the Tyrrhenian sea towards its west and by Mount Amiata on to its east.
Trivia – At 1723 metres, Mount Amiata is the second highest volcanic peak in Italy, after Mount Etna. It’s a dormant one all the same.
This wine region is in South West of Tuscany where the weather can get quite warm. This is partly moderated by the cool breezes which flow inwards from the Tyrrhenian Sea as also by the cooling effect of Mount Amiata. The combined effect of these climatic phenomena creates conditions which are beneficial for growing grapes which go into making wonderful wines, one of which was in our glasses that evening.
A Riserva Wine
Collemasari Montecucco Rosso is also labelled as a Riserva wine.
When any wine is marked as Riserva, it means that it undergoes an extended ageing. This prolonged ageing adds a lot of depth and complexity to the wine adding to its overall quality.
This Rosso wine which we savoured that evening was aged for 16 – 18 months in Oak barrels and further 12 months in the bottle before release. The depth and complexity added to the wine due to this prolonged ageing was evident on the palate.
Akin to a Super Tuscan
This wine is primarily made with Sangiovese grapes, where 80% of the wine is Sangiovese and the balance 20%, a mix of a local varietal Cillieglo and Cabernet Sauvignon. A blend like this of Sangiovese with an international variety like Cabernet Sauvignon, is akin to the criteria that often defines Super Tuscans.
A Wine that has not changed in Style for more than 100 Years ?
Well yes, I’m talking about the fourth and the last wine of the evening which was also the Queen of the Wines that night. It was the Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva.
Castello di Castello is the name of a castle as also the name of the winery from where this wine comes from. The winery takes its name and inspiration from this castle. The origin this castle dates back to the 1st Century AD when the Roman Emperor Hadrian commissioned it for protection of its neighbourhood. In not so distant past, in the year 1897 both the winery and the castle came to be owned by the Francois family.
Today the 5th generation of the family is running the winery and producing exceptional wines like the one we were to savour that day.
A remarkable USP of this wine is that it was first made by the Francois family in the year 1904, and since then, even after more than 120 years, the style of this wine has remains unchanged. This fact certainly added a lot of gravitas to the wine’s aura in the wine dinner.
This historic wines is produced in Chianti Classico wine region in central Italy. The region has vineyards which are known to produce wines of highest quality in the entire Chianti region, including the one in our glasses. The fact that this wine has DOCG on its label also authenticates the exceptional quality of this wine.
This is also a Riserva wine which, as I mentioned earlier is a wine which undergoes extended ageing which adds to its quality. This wine was aged for 24 months out of which three months were in bottle and rest in oak.Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva is primarily made up of the Sangiovese grape varietal. It is 90% Sangiovese and balance 10% is an indigenous Italian grape called as Canaiolo.
Now, Sangiovese is the most widely planted grape in Italy and it is known to give medium to full body wines which have firm tannins and a bright acidity. This high level acidity enables this wine to pair wonderfully with a range of cuisines and went exceptionally well with all the three options catered by the chef in the final course – Baked Black Cod, Duo of Mulwarra Lamb and the Himalayan Morel & Mascarpone Risotto. It was surely difficult to choose one of these over the other.
Shall We End on a Sweet Note ?
Certainly Yes !! The Wine Dinner ended with the decadent and scrumptious Dessert Course.
Thus culminated this wonderful wine dinner which created an immersive fine dining experience for all the guests, which included prominent persons from India and abroad.
So… these were was my thoughts and musings on this memorable wine dinner, I do hope that you loved reading about it. I shall catch you again very soon. Cheers !!
Mukul Manku President Wineglitz India – The Wine Club
Congratulations!!
Thankyou 🥂